© Asian Development Bank 2004

All rights reserved

Printed in February 2003 as a working paper for the 3rd World Water Forumin Kyoto, Japan 16–23 March 2003. First published by the Asian DevelopmentBank (ADB) in January 2004, ISBN 971-561-517-1, Publication Stock No.120603 as part of the "Water for All" publication series under the WaterAwareness Program. This publication was prepared by consultants for ADBunder RETA 6093: Promoting Effective Water Management Policies andPractices. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in it donot necessarily represent the views of ADB or those of its membergovernments. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included inthe publication and accepts no responsibility whatsoever for anyconsequences of their use.

Abbreviations

ADB Asian Development Bank

AWARD Association for Water and Rural Development

CD compact disk

DFID Department for International Development (United Kingdom)

IWRM integrated water resources management

MDGs Millennium Development Goals

MTEF medium-term expenditure framework

NGO nongovernment organization

OECD-DAC Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Assistance Committee

O&M operation and maintenance

PRS poverty reduction strategy

PRSP poverty reduction strategy paper

SEWA Self-Employed Women's Association

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

WFG water facilitator group

WPI Water and Poverty Initiative

WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development

WUA water users association

Contents

4 ABBREVIATIONS

7 INTRODUCTION

8 BASIC FACTS

9 LESSONS LEARNED9 Conventional Wisdom Confirmed

10 Conventional Wisdom Challenged10 New Ideas Confirmed14 New Ideas Challenged15 Research Questions Raised17 Remaining Challenges

18 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION18 Pro-Poor Water Governance20 Improved Access to Quality Water Services24 Pro-Poor Economic Growth and Livelihood Improvements25 Community Capacity Building and Empowerment28 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation29 Management of the Environment

31 THE WAY FORWARD

31 REFERENCES

7

1 The Water and Poverty Initiative is a partnership of many leading international organizations, coordinated by theAsian Development Bank, intended to create a greater awareness for advocacy and the development ofstrategies to achieve the potential of water as a key element in poverty reduction.

The Water and Poverty InitiativeWhat We Can Learn and

What We Must Do

Introduction

This paper draws together the lessons learned from 30 “best practice” casestudy papers produced for the Water and Poverty Initiative.1 The focus ofthese case studies is the link between water and poverty reduction.

Each seeks to demonstrate real examples of practical ways that the role of waterin poverty reduction can be improved. None are comprehensive or complete, allmix success with elements that could be improved and all demonstrate clearlythat water management alone is not enough: the sustainable reduction of povertyrelies on a wide range of factors of which water is only one. Despite these caveats,the overview presented here clearly demonstrates that there are many practicaland cost-effective ways in which we can make a difference. Improving differentaspects of water management can and does have a direct and material impacton poverty.

In many cases, the initiatives presented here were received with great enthusiasmby the poor communities in which they were implemented. This in itself is thebest judge of what we should be doing. Poor people are the hardest critics andhave little time for actions that do not meet their needs, capabilities, or priorities.That we are able to present such a wide range of effective actions is importantand encouraging. The analysis presented here provides a basis to build on.

Of course, the limited space that we have in this synthesis means that a greatdeal of detail and richness on individual case studies has had to be sacrificed.This richness can be found in the individual case study reports. In first instancethe case study papers were coded along basic questions such as whose watersecurity is enhanced, what water security problems the poor faced, how theycoped, how they were organized, how they made use of new opportunities,which outside actors were involved, what they did, what the impacts ofinterventions were, and how sustainable the benefits are. This information wasthen analyzed to see which general ideas about water and poverty reductionwere confirmed or challenged by the case studies and which new ideas seempromising and which new ideas have been challenged. In the process, remaining

8

challenges for the water sector as well as issues that require future research wereidentified.

The next step of the analysis is a move toward action. Here the analysis seeks todraw on the case study papers taking a "helicopter view.” The outcome has thenbeen structured along the lines of the six key action areas that have earlier beendefined to improve water security for the poor, namely: pro-poor watergovernance; improved access to quality water services; pro-poor economic growthand livelihood improvement; community capacity building and empowerment;disaster prevention and mitigation; and management of the environment.

The paper broadly follows the pattern described above. Section 2 summarizesthe facts and figures of the 30 case studies. Section 3 deals with the lessonslearned, the next section with the recommendations for action, and section 5concludes with a brief description of what may be needed to ensure that talkabout action results in tangible improvements in the water security of theworld’s poor.

The 30 case studies on which this analysis is based cover 20 countries andregions in Africa, Asia, and Micronesia. The cases vary considerably in morethan one way. For instance, the smallest case contributor is the Republic ofKiribati, an island state in Micronesia. Its size is only 20% bigger than that ofSingapore, and Kiribati has less than 100,000 inhabitants. Another case is fromthe People’s Republic of China, 10,000 times as big and with a population of1.28 billion. The case study from Jiangxi Province in eastern China involvedaround 40 million people.

Only one of the cases, that of the treadle pump, is at the stage where it is beingwidely replicated. Half of the case studies are experimental and the remainingcases are at a more advanced stage of development. Most cases are well establishedin the sense that they have been operational for several years and have stood thetest of time. However, a few cases have been initiated only relatively recently andhighlight how agencies that have been generally conservative in the past aretaking on board participatory, poverty-focused, and holistic approaches to waterresource development.

In just under half the number of cases, one or more government agencies are thekey actors from outside the local community. In just under 30%, an NGO tookthe lead while joint Government-NGO action was reported in 10% of the cases,as was international funding agency initiative and commercial sector leadership.More than two thirds of the cases involved both poor men and women, while20% focused on only women and 7% on only men.

Water management in rural areas dominates the case studies (85%) whileinterventions in urban areas are much fewer (15%). While the number of thepoor is much higher in rural areas, the spread of the cases reflects the fact thatpoverty-focused water sector interventions in urban areas are fairly newphenomena.

Theme-wise, improved access to quality water services makes up the majority ofcases (almost two out of five) followed by pro-poor economic growth andlivelihood improvement (one in three). Fewer cases focus on the remaining themes,

Basic Facts

9

The Water and Poverty Initiative

namely management of the environment (11%), pro-poor water governance (9%),and community capacity building and empowerment (7%). Only one casefocused on disaster prevention and mitigation. The above classification pertainsto the main focus of the case study papers, but many of the case studies relate tomore than one theme, albeit other themes are covered less extensively.

The WPI case studies papers refer to many lessons that have been learned frompreceding interventions as well as from the cases themselves. In almost all of thecases, the information presented contextualizes the specifics of the case study towider experiences in the field, meaning that the synthesis presented here reflectsa much wider experience than just that of the 30 specific case studies. Thissection draws together the main lessons learned.

Conventional Wisdom ConfirmedNumerous case studies confirm that in schemes that do not specifically aim atreaching the poor, the relatively more prosperous sections of the communityreap most of the benefits from water resources. In such schemes, the poor oftenonly get what happens to trickle down or may be excluded from benefitsaltogether. In other words, a blanket, unfocused approach to enhanced watersecurity is likely to benefit mostly those who need it least. For instance, theearlier watersheds conservation schemes in Andhra Pradesh, India, were generallyeffective at harvesting more rainwater, but the main beneficiaries of this were toooften larger farmers on better land who were able to benefit from the subsequentimprovements to the availability of groundwater irrigation. Any attempts toimprove the water security of the poor must consequently focus on them andtheir needs in a more direct and effective manner. This is widely reflected inseveral case studies that were themselves intended to be more poverty-focused.That there was mixed success in this reflects the challenges that doing so presents.Again, the Andhra Pradesh experience illustrates this, with several iterations ofchanges to the watersheds development approach reflecting learning experiencesthat sought to be increasingly poverty-focused.

Abundant water resources do not automatically mean people have access. Nepal,for instance, has 2.3% of the world’s freshwater resources, but only 0.4 % of theworld’s population. In spite of this, only 40% of Nepalese rural poor have accessto safe drinking water and less than 20% to basic sanitation. The shift indevelopment thinking away from the availability of natural resources in generaltoward the question who does, and who does not, have access to these resourcesis widely reflected in the case studies, but there are generally recognized problemswith putting this principle into practice.

Analysis of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) produced by a numberof African countries suggests that in only a few of those PRSPs, water has beenincluded as a key to poverty reduction. Furthermore, there is much emphasis oninfrastructure, but relatively little on the necessary social and organizationalsupport systems. This reflects the general idea that action on the ground lagsyears, if not decades, behind international developmental thinking and talk.

Lessons Learned

10

Conventional Wisdoms Challenged

In general, government agencies have a poor reputation when it comes to servicedelivery, particularly when it comes to ensuring that those services reach thepoor. In some circles, it is fashionable to bemoan the chances of transformingsuch agencies. Several of these case studies indicate that government agenciescan deliver expected outputs and are even able to reach the poor in an efficientand effective manner. One example is from the Municipality of Manila. Anotheris the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation in Nepal, where major changesto approaching service delivery has led to substantial improvements in the servicesreaching the poor. Thus, in spite of all the rhetoric against government agencies,there is hope!

This is increasingly recognized in project design, with several case studies thathave not yet reached a stage where full evaluation would be possible, neverthelesscontaining capacity building of government agencies as a central element. Forinstance, the ADB program to provide improved water supply and sanitationservices to six provincial towns in Papua New Guinea was redesigned to includeinstitutional reform as a central element. Similarly, the watersheds program inAndhra Pradesh includes the restructuring of the role and capacities of district-level government agencies and the enhancement of the links between governmentand nongovernment institutions as core goals.

Many see natural disasters as just that—natural and therefore to some extent,unavoidable. Although there are few case studies that deal exclusively with naturaldisasters and their mitigation, many more refer to them in one way or another.What is clear is that the impact of natural trends and disasters on people andtheir livelihoods is determined to a large extent by man-made factors, with thepoor hit first and hardest in all too many cases. Examples of these are social andinfrastructural factors, as well as the relevance, efficiency, and timeliness of pre-and post disaster interventions by governments, NGOs, and the private sector.The capacity of people to cope is also of crucial importance. Interventions toreduce the vulnerability of poor people to natural hazards must target the poormore effectively and take into account all factors that create their vulnerabilityto these hazards.

There is a general perception that participatory projects require more time thantop-down interventions and that they lead to lower levels of output. The casestudies do not confirm these perceptions. While participation may initially takemore time, this is usually more than made up for during construction becausethere are fewer conflicts and obstructions. As far as actual output is concerned,the initial number of units constructed may be less, but once those are establisheddemand usually increases, ultimately resulting in a higher total output.

New Ideas ConfirmedThe single most obvious idea confirmed in most, if not all the case study papers,is that water is a necessary, but on its own, insufficient precondition for povertyreduction. Poverty reduction is only possible if the poor have secure access tosafe and sufficient water for domestic and productive purposes. However, thefull poverty reduction impact of water will only be realized if the voice and

11

The Water and Poverty Initiative

organizational capacity of local people and organizations is enhanced alongsideincreased access to appropriate technologies, credit, markets, etc. Povertyreduction also requires macroeconomic stability, security, and political backingto focus developments on the poor.

The water sector is as dynamic as the lives of people in development. Watermanagement should therefore not be seen as static, but as an ongoing process inwhich changing people interact with water—itself transient in nature—and anotherwise rapidly changing world. There are consequently no “final” solutions,but only step-wise improvements on the present situation. In due course, theseimprovements will turn out to be insufficient, requiring further enhancements.This observation confirms two trends in water sector projects. The first trend is togive people choices, such as in the type of water supply system or latrine they wantto install, rather than go for the “one size fits all” approach. Secondly, this observationjustifies the current stress on building capacity at all levels to manage water in anongoing way. Technologies and infrastructure come and go, but water managementcapacity that is institutionalized is likely to stay and help tackle tomorrow’schallenges. The adaptive and incremental approach seen in several case studiesshows that these characteristics can and are integrated into pro-poor watermanagement. For instance, in Gujarat, India, Self-Employed Women’s Association(a local NGO has developed an adaptive and demand-led approach to community-based water management through trial and error, where lessons learned by thecommunity and the NGO were integrated into subsequent activities. Similarly,WaterAid has worked closely with local partners and communities to develop ademand-responsive approach for water supply provision in Niassa Province,Mozambique. In this case, the use of a range of media has catalyzed a dramaticgrowth of demand for water supply points, demand that is being met in a moreflexible and locally appropriate manner.

In some cases, water resource problems are caused by gaps in the institutionalframework or failings in governance conditions. An example is the lack of lawand order and institutional weaknesses in the coastal zone in Bangladesh thathas allowed the development of environmentally damaging and sociallyunacceptable exploitation of shrimp by a few powerful interests. While muchmore benign ways of producing shrimp are available, ways that have a majorpoverty reduction potential, these have in the past had no chance, due to thesegovernance and institutional weaknesses. Similarly, the historical extremevulnerability of coastal communities to natural disasters has reflected the weaknessof mitigation and relief programs. Much of the dynamics behind the presentprocess of coastal policy development is a response to these acknowledgedweaknesses. That the WPI case study papers confirm the relevance of the widerinstitutional context of water and of poverty cannot be overstated.

The case studies also confirm that interventions in the water regime that benefitsome, often have negative environmental and social impacts on others, often justas poor, living elsewhere. The most obvious case is of those living downstreamfrom water sources held back for upstream use. The emphasis in environmentalimpact assessments to take into account upstream and downstream areas as wellas people, and the wider calls for integrated river basin management areconsequently well taken.

12

Lack of access and control over water resources is the major bottleneck for thepoor in their efforts to improve their water security. Often, the local powerstructure prevents the poor from getting a better deal. In such cases, externalassistance should not only support people in their coping strategies, but shouldalso assist them in challenging the power structure. Lobbying on behalf of thepoor at all levels is rightly included in more and more programs.

There is a growing understanding that privatization, if done according to thepro-poor criteria, can improve the water security of the poor. A number of casestudies confirm that this is the case. In those cases, the government stipulated apro-poor success criteria and relaxed stringent technical, institutional, and legalrequirements. In some case studies, private commercial firms were able to deliverwater services to the urban poor on a scale unseen under public management.

People have their own logic for doing or not doing things. Unless directstakeholders get a chance to make up their own mind, and unless outside actorsunderstand what they think and feel, external assistance may not be of muchhelp. This is confirmed in many cases, (e.g., in some sanitation programs wherepeople choose options not recommended by outside agencies and in irrigationwhere in parts of South Asia, many low income households have opted for theless expensive, lower quality but reliable treadle pump). Shah et al’s (2003)characterization of the treadle pump as being “self-selected” by the poor is animportant concept with wider applicability. People often need to start withsomething that is currently relevant, useful, and maintainable. Over time theycan then move toward more capital and management intensive options. In otherwords, real decision-making power in the hands of the direct stakeholders is nota luxury, but a precondition, if water is to reduce poverty.

Quite a number of case studies confirm the general understanding that quick-fixsolutions are unlikely to be sustainable. Ongoing involvement as well asparticipatory monitoring and evaluation is needed to identify problems thatarise along the way in maintaining new approaches and solving unexpectedproblems. This inherent need favors linking water sector interventions to other,ongoing institutional arrangements, which in any case is necessary if water is tohave a lasting impact on poverty reduction.

Contributions by direct stakeholders are now a common feature of water sectorinterventions. The case studies confirm that this is very useful to identify whetherdirect stakeholders are really interested in a particular intervention. However,the case studies also indicate that the level of contributions should be linked tothe actual cost of operating and maintaining the particular scheme or technologicaloption. Furthermore, it is helpful not to use the contribution for the actualinvestment, but to set the money aside in an operation and maintenance fund,under the control of the direct stakeholders. They can then annually top-up theamount spent that year and observe a direct link between their efforts and thecontinuation of the water services.

Case studies point out another issue related to contributions by directstakeholders. For at least two reasons, there is a real danger that poorercommunities will be unable to access such arrangements. First of all, the poorhave limited skills in getting organized to deal with outside agencies. Secondly,the poorer strata of society are least able to pay the required contribution upfront.

13

The Water and Poverty Initiative

Several case studies show ways to tackle these problems. The first is a strategicdecision to give poverty reduction top priority and to measure project success inpart by the number of poorer communities covered. Similarly, time and fundsshould be made available to assist the poor in becoming organized. The secondbottleneck can be overcome by making arrangements for the initial contributionto be made in installments.

Some cases studies suggest that rehabilitating traditional systems, such as theKarez systems in Baluchistan, can go hand in hand with modern systems such asdrip irrigation. While there are relatively few examples of such a marriage ofthe old and the new being planned beforehand, there are many examplesworldwide of direct stakeholders happily combining the old and the new ininnovative ways. Projects that recognize the major contribution that localknowledge can play tend to be more sustainable and have far greater “ownership”among local people.

Technical facilities, awareness and organization have to go hand-in-hand and beappropriately synchronized. One without the other is of little use. The currentstress on the software side of water resources development runs the risk of thehardware side being given less importance or even forgotten. This is as bad, ifnot worse, than the previous single-minded focus on hardware. This is clearly aperspective that local communities share, among whom the objective is to gainimproved access to water resources and services, which is often not possible withoutinvestments in infrastructure. Poor people in particular are willing to spendprecious time in organizing and participating if they clearly see the benefits,which generally includes investments in hardware.

Changes in government agencies that lead to improvements in implementationare crucial to successful water resources development. The case studies suggestthat poor implementation is the real bottleneck in most interventions bygovernment agencies. Quite often the national policies, strategies, and plans arenot that bad, but what actually happens at the grassroots level is a totally differentstory. Therefore, the current stress of government agencies on capacity buildingfor being able to implement more bottom-up and participatory approaches, iswell taken.

When designing water management or water supply facilities, it is necessary tolook forward and include options that allow for change and growing use. Thecase studies suggest that there is a fine balance between doing what people neednow and can afford to maintain, and ensuring that infrastructure has a reasonablelife span. The solution seems to be designs that allow expansion and additionalservice provision by building on existing facilities.

Case studies confirm the usefulness of learning-by-doing and seeing for oneself.Both direct and indirect stakeholders, such as staff of government agencies, canbe made enthusiastic by exposure visits to schemes that show what can be done.The use of direct stakeholders as “experience-experts” is a powerful way to changebehavior.

The cases confirm that women are often more committed to local developmentthan men, particularly concerning matters that have a direct impact on householdsand homesteads. Women are also well able to handle water-related mattersincluding technical issues, O&M, collecting contributions, and conflict

14

resolution. The experiences of SEWA in Gujarat, India, where social restrictionson women have traditionally been very strong, demonstrate that placing womenat the center of the planning and management of water investments is botheffective in producing good investments and significant in creating a wider processof empowerment, confidence building, and organization among women thatcan lead to major changes to their standing in local society.

Most of these “best practice” case studies involve a number of actors as well asfinancial input from abroad. This should not come as a surprise as the variousactors all have their own strengths and weaknesses. NGOs may have bright ideasand good contact at grassroots level, but often their coverage and financial capacityis limited. Government agencies have national coverage and may be able toinfluence policies, strategies, and even laws, but often have little idea of whatwould really benefit the poor. Even if they do, their lack of funds often constrainsgovernment agencies severely. By definition, the strength of funding agencies isthat they have the capital that is necessary to improve human and physicalcapital. They can also fund top-level advice, but lack both the authority to decideon what a nation should do and the direct connection with the stakeholders.Internal donor procedures and political pressures are not always conducive towhat is needed on the ground. Finally, research and other specialized institutionsmay have cutting-edge insights and theories, but are not equipped to put any ofthat into practice. The case studies strongly confirm the need for partnershipsthat marry the strengths of the various actors.

Where this does happen, the potential for major impacts upon poverty isenormous. Although many of the case studies that attempted this balancedpartnership on a large scale were still in progress or too recent to categoricallyassess impacts, the available evidence provides the grounds for great optimism.For instance, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project has already broughtbenefits in terms of health, time savings, community organization, and otherways to over 600,000 people in remote hill communities in Nepal. The AndhraPradesh watersheds program is benefiting many hundreds of thousands of poorpeople in the drought prone areas of the state. The Soozhal Initiative in TamilNadu, India is bringing improved sanitation to tens of thousands of poor people.The IWMI paper on agricultural water and poverty linkages documents benefitsin terms of improved income and food security in a number of major irrigationschemes where innovative and participatory approaches had been adopted. Inthese and other cases, the case studies demonstrate that substantial povertyimpacts can and are being made through water management where the poor areempowered, investments are made in a sustainable manner, different stakeholdersjoin together in effective partnerships, and representative as well as effectiveinstitutional framework is developed.

New Ideas ChallengedSome case study papers refer to the fact that improved water managementnormally also has a downside in that those who used to depend upon the resourcesto make a living through fishing or other forms of harvesting, or throughsupplying water, food, or other services, before the improvement, may loose out.This is particularly true where such groups are minority groups or where thelivelihood activities are a sideline that more powerful sections of society do not

15

The Water and Poverty Initiative

participate in. This is something not normally taken into account in the feasibilitystage of projects. This should be done as all project affected persons (PAPs) havethe right to be treated as such. Specific mitigation measures would be needed tohelp such PAPs diversify their livelihoods, but these are too often not includedin project design.

Several cases suggest that both men and women must be involved in planningand design. Given the traditional involvement of men, many interventions nowfocus on women, some to the exclusion of men. Indications are that excludingmen altogether is not the solution. Indeed doing so may be fatal to the chancesof project success. Men will generally have a useful contribution to make.Furthermore, if excluded against their will and interest, they usually have waysand means to stay out of the picture but stay in control. Such behind the scenesarrangements are not helpful, nor transparent. In schemes wherein only womenor only men are involved, success is less and sustainability, reduced. Projectsshould carefully consider the interests of both women and men, and involvethem accordingly, ensuring active steps to improve equality, but not adoptingan exclusionary approach that marginalizes any section of the local community.

Participation of direct stakeholders in design, planning implementation, ormanagement is sometimes presented as a panacea to all problems. Such involvementis then assumed to automatically result in sustainability. The cases studies suggestthat life is not as simple as that. Fifty years of government-led development haveingrained the widespread expectation in all strata of society that the governmentwill take care of the necessary investments and also do the O&M. It is unlikelythat half a century of top-down development can be changed overnight and thereforea long term, comprehensive, and consistent step-by-step approach is required tomove toward sustainable water resources management. This is particularly truewhere, as is often the case, the original decision to make an investment is not madeby the local community or where participation is introduced for the managementand maintenance of existing infrastructure. In such cases, assigning responsibilityto local people is seen (often rightly) as no more than government divesting itselfof its responsibilities and “dumping” them on local people.

Normally, political stability is a prerequisite for development. Many case studiesconfirm that this is indeed needed. However, the ADB supported project inMindanao suggests that even in a politically unstable situation, developmentcan take place. As yet, there are too few case studies available to identify whatthe key factors for success were, but the case itself challenges the new idea thatlittle can be done in a situation of instability. This is, of course, profoundlyimportant, as such situations are where many poor people are found (includingthose impoverished by the instability) and where water security is at its worst. Itmay not be appropriate to apply “normal” criteria for judging success or failurein such cases, as any improvements and whatever questions raised about cost,sustainability, or participation, can be of great importance in helping peoplesurvive and sustain their livelihoods until more stable conditions emerge.

Research Questions RaisedIn some countries, particularly in Africa, there is a lack of basic data on the watersector, in general, and the allocation of government and other funds, in particular.

16

Such data must be consistently collected on a national level to facilitate strategicdecision-making concerning investments.

Research by WaterAid has highlighted the fact that in the PRSPs of many Africannations, the potential role of water in poverty reduction is poorly represented.There is currently no overview of how much room the PRSPs of Asian nationsgive to the role of water in poverty reduction. This requires further researchincluding follow-up as PRSPs are revised and updated. There is also a widerneed to understand how water relates to national development strategies outsideof the PRSP framework, including the need to revise such strategies whereappropriate. For instance, in many countries, the concentration of agriculturalpolicies on increasing output and achieving national food self-sufficiency hasbeen a major factor behind the unsustainable exploitation of water resources forirrigation, with too often a negative impact upon the poor.

Even if water does get a more prominent role in PRSPs, that will not automaticallylead to changes on the ground through new programs or investments that targetimproving the water security of the poor. The question is to what extent water-related goals in PRSPs are translated into budget allocations in the mediumterm expenditure frameworks (MTEFs) and the actual provision of those funds.Relatively little is known about this and research is needed to ensure transparencyof the crucial links among policy, and plan.

At present, most water management interventions require direct stakeholders toorganize so that they can be involved in all stages of the project cycle—fromproblem identification all the way through to O&M. In some communities, onefinds a water supply and sanitation committee, an irrigation committee, and abody that looks after flood control and drainage issues. It is not clear whetherthis intervention-driven fragmentation of water management is the mostappropriate or sustainable. It certainly runs against the principle of integratedwater resources management that is widely accepted as the basis for more effectiveapproaches to water management. Those convinced of the need for integratedwater resource management would prefer institutional arrangements that caterto all water-related, or even natural resources related issues. Others object thatthere is insufficient local organizational capacity to move to such a broad-basedorganization. Also, some prefer giving new responsibilities to existing communitybased institutions, while others avoid such institutions because they believe sucharrangements will not give the poor an adequate voice. Research is needed toidentify the circumstances that favor one approach over the other.

One case study raises the question regarding what the key factors that makewater resource development possible in situations of extreme vulnerability orinstability are. There is no doubt that some of the poorest people, such asinternally displaced people, refugees and people in areas of civil war, live in veryunstable situations. Similarly, many poor communities have high exposure tothe threat of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, or cyclones. Researchshould shed light on how the water security of these people can best be enhanced.

Research need to be put into the design and implementation of appropriateallocation mechanisms from the technical, institutional, and economicperspective, so as to ensure sustainable access to domestic water, both for thepresent and future generations. As part of this, there is a need to think about

17

The Water and Poverty Initiative

new, more decentralized, systems for water collection and supply appropriatefor the diverse range of uses found in communities. For instance, hundreds ofthousands of new houses are being built for poor families in South Africa, initself a major achievement, but not one of these has a system for collectingrainwater.

Research on affordable and environmentally sound methods of disposing sewageresidue and industrial water from arsenic and fluoride removal equipment andplants is needed. The high concentration of biologically and chemically dangeroussubstances in such residues make them a much bigger threat than in theirpreviously diluted state. There is increasing evidence on the extent and severityof the exposure of poor people in particular to these toxins, but as yet, fewpractical, affordable, or sustainable remedial systems have been developed.

Finally, cross-country research is needed to find out what the poverty reductionand environmental impacts of de-linking water rights from land rights are. Someresearch from India and South Africa suggest there is much to be gained from sucha move, and indeed recent proposals for the reform of national watershedmanagement guidelines in India include a proposal to delink land and groundwaterrights. On the other hand, this would imply a change in long-standing and well-established rights, the implications of which are not well-understood.

Remaining ChallengesThe lessons learned indicate many remaining challenges. However, three of thesechallenges stand out as being of particular importance for improving the watersecurity of the poor and enhancing the contribution that water management canmake to poverty reduction. The first challenge is the need for coordination andcooperation among key actors in the water sector. Among them, key actors havea wealth of experience, knowledge, and potential, but the fragmentation of theirefforts means that the contribution of the water sector to poverty reduction ismuch below its potential. Key actors need to act together for water to have itsmaximum impact on the reduction of poverty. Integrated Water ResourcesManagement is a potential framework for achieving this, but building partnershipsmust not be contingent upon such an approach being adopted and new action-oriented partnership arrangements are critical for improving the access of poorpeople to water.

The second remaining challenge is the scaling up of successful approaches. Here,more often than not, the bottleneck is the limited capacity of implementingagencies (be they governmental, nongovernmental or from the private sector) tounderstand and execute the new approaches. Ad hoc arrangements focusing ontraining a limited number of staff directly related to specific projects or programshas not been effective, let alone lead to sustainable change. A systematic, coherent,and longer-term capacity-building strategy is needed.

The third challenge is to ensure that the ongoing reforms of water sectorinstitutions in many countries is focused on making sure that the water sectorcontributes its full potential to poverty reduction. Without ensuring this vitallink between talk and action, the poor will see little or no benefit from thegrowing international consensus on water issues. A key to this is to place poverty

18

reduction at the heart of the reform process, and from this, to ensure that reformslead to actions that are more directly targeted to the specific needs of the pooreven where this is at the cost of other objectives.

Taken together, actions to address these challenges would provide a strongplatform for building on the lessons learned from the case studies, disseminatingthe many aspects of water management that were successfully contributingto poverty reduction and mitigating the factors that acted against success indifferent places.

This section takes the lessons learned from the field forward, relating them tothe framework for action developed in the water and poverty initiative. The poorneed more action, not talk. A two-track approach is needed to ensure that waterbecomes a major facilitator of poverty reduction. First of all, there must be actionthat will lead to quick improvements in the water security of the world’s poorestpeople. Secondly, there must be longer term, comprehensive action that willlead to a more enabling environment for sustainable water resources development.Below are some practical suggestions as to how to develop such an approach inrelation to the six key action areas for improving the water security of the pooridentified in the water and poverty initiative thematic framework.2

Pro-Poor Water GovernanceThe single most important pro-poor water governance intervention is forgovernments, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and funding agencies toput poverty reduction, in all its multidimensional aspects, at the top of thedevelopment agenda. Good governance requires accurate data on water availability,the nature of poverty, and relevant water-related government, NGO, and privatesector interventions. In many countries, such information is unavailable, but itis crucial if interventions are to be focused on the poor. Governments shouldidentify minimum data requirements and they should ensure that it is consistentlycollected, analyzed, and made public. The case studies clearly illustrate the needto effectively target the poor and to establish levels of service appropriate fortheir needs. For instance, the work of AWARD, an NGO, in the Bushbuckridgearea of South Africa, demonstrates the clear livelihood benefits that the use ofdomestic water for productive activities creates. However, existing domestic waterallocations often do not cater to such activities as they are based on norms forconsumption only. A better picture of the levels of water needed for theseproductive uses is essential, if adequate allocations for them are to be made.

Actions to ensure greater equity through the inclusion of a strong genderperspective are increasingly recognized as essential, if good governance is to developin the water sector. This is challenging, but several positive experiences wereidentified in the case studies, including Gujarat in India, Pakistani Punjab, andNepal (Box 1). The need to approach gender as a core element of watermanagement, rather than as something that is added on to existing approachesis a lesson that these case studies illustrate. This is particularly important for theeffective targeting of water management to the specific needs and capabilities of

Recommendationsfor Action

2 See Soussan, J. 2003. Poverty and Water Security. Manila: ADB.

19

The Water and Poverty Initiative

the poor, as women make up a disproportionate amount of the poor and generallyhave needs, capabilities, and priorities that differ from those of men.

Legal and policy provisions as well as institutional reform are needed to ensurethat the rights of poor people to access water resources are protected. This is truein all circumstances, but is particularly important where actions taken affectmultiple stakeholders over a larger area, as this opens up the potential for conflictthat are unlikely to be resolved by existing community regulatory systems. Insuch circumstances, any infrastructure development or changes to wateraccessibility must be accompanied by steps to ensure that the poor are properlyrepresented. For instance, the paper by Hussein et al (2003) that examinesagricultural water-poverty links in several Asian sites, establishes the importanceof effective governance conditions for ensuring good poverty impacts in caseswhere this was found, such as in the Walawe River Basin in Sri Lanka, that havehad positive and sustainable benefits for the poor in large irrigation schemes.

Cost recovery of water supply is necessary if that supply is to be sustainable, butneeds to be based on fair, transparent, and legitimate cost recovery systems thatrecognize and protect the interests of the poor. Cost recovery has proven to bepossible if water services are appropriate and reliable. The cost recovery processshould start with poor communities deciding the level of services that they needand can afford to pay for. Secondly, tariffs should be staggered so that everyonehas free access to the absolute minimum amount of water to maintain a healthylife, but additional use is progressively charged. The tariff should go up to thepoint where the richer users in fact pay in excess of the operational cost as well asthe recovery of at least part of the investment in infrastructure. The excess incomecan then be used to subsidize the supply of water for basic needs.

There is a need to link and form alliances between the various sub-sectors in thewater sector, such as irrigation, drinking water supply and sanitation, flood control

In Nepal, 80% of the population depends on agriculture, with women contributing 40% more labor thanmen. To improve irrigated agriculture, The Government, in 1992, initiated farmer participation in all projects.The level of success, however, has varied, mainly because of unequal participation among the users,particularly women. However, involving women in Water User Associations (WUAs) has been a challenge.

In the Irrigation Management Transfer Project, funded by ADB, a pilot project tested how genderconcerns could be effectively addressed. At the start of the pilot project, women comprised 25% of the WUAand most felt they had been included simply to meet The Government’s quota for women. The WUA createda Women’s Facilitator Group (WFG) comprising mainly women leaders representing the various outletcanals. The WFG identified its own training needs, after which the WFG motivates women and men to worktoward a more equitable distribution of water.

The pilot project was highly successful. The WFG assisted the WUA in• amending the WUA constitution, allowing membership of wives, adult men, and female children;• incorporating the WFG as an organ within the WUA hierarchies;• increasing women’s representation in the WUA to 60% within a year; and• constructing an additional canal that increased the irrigated area by 50 ha.

From this pilot project the following main lessons can be learned.• Efforts to improve gender responsiveness must be part of an overall process of institutional development

so that men understand and support the changes taking place;• Projects that advocate participatory processes need to plan with women, not around them.

Box 1. Building Gender Responsive Water UserAssociations in Nepal

20

and drainage improvement, water retention, etc., so that a coherent approachcan be taken. Institutional fragmentation, with different agencies havingjurisdiction over these different aspects of water management and little or nocoordination among them, is extremely common. There are a number of caseswhere active steps are being taken to address such problems and ensure that allaspects of water management for the poor are included in initiatives. These shouldcover all aspects of water resources and their relationship to poverty in formsthat reflect the specifics of local circumstances. For instance, the development ofcoastal policies in Bangladesh is focused on the multiple vulnerabilities thatcoastal communities face, including the threat of natural disasters, the need tomaintain the resource base, and the intention to support and extend livelihoodopportunities that benefit the poor. The establishment of more effectivegovernance conditions in the coastal areas is seen as a precondition for success.

The causal connection between different ways of improving access to water andpoverty reduction and how these relate to the key issue of governance must bebetter researched and explained. An example is the impact of the privatization ofwater supply compared to the more common public provision. This attractsmuch attention, but little effective analysis. The case studies of private sectorparticipation in major urban areas such as Manila, however, suggest that thepoor can benefit substantially where effective regulatory regimes exist and boththe private companies and the government agree on effective strategies to extendreliable supplies to the poor. The issue of private sector involvement illustratesthe importance of not prejudging what good governance conditions are, but alsoof the importance of ensuring that good governance exists.

Improved Access to Quality Water ServicesIn many situations, the ultimate test of how effectively water managementtargets the poor can be measured in the improvements made to the water servicesthat the poor receive. This is not just how many people are connected to watersupplies or how much land is irrigated. The quality of the water provided, thereliability and cost of the services, and the extent to which all aspects of waterneeds are taken into account are of equal importance. Improved sanitation is alsoincreasingly recognized as an essential, if much neglected service that has majorpoverty impacts.

The multiple benefits that improved services create even where they were notspecifically designed as objectives has been dramatically demonstrated byWaterAid, who undertook an impact assessment of older water supply andsanitation projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, India, and Tanzania. The results wereremarkable.

Even though these were mainly straightforward supply-oriented projects, theywere based on strong community mobilization and empowerment at all stages.This was a key to the success and sustainability of the projects. Women andchildren in particular were the main beneficiaries. Although the initialjustification was usually based on health objectives, the assessment identified awide range of positive impacts that affected many dimensions of life.

• The most important benefit was often the time saved and reduction in fatiguefrom not having to travel to collect water, on average, 6 km away. This was

21

The Water and Poverty Initiative

often translated into an increased number of working days, with direct incomebenefits.

• Many health benefits, including reduced medical costs, were identified,resulting in obviously reduced diarrhea and dysentery, but also in fewerworm infestations and less bilharzia, scabies, and other conditions.

• A wide range of income opportunities around the house emerged, includingvegetable production, brewing, brick and pot making, and food stalls.

• There were multiplier effects throughout the local economy from the increasedincome and new economic activities as well as benefits that came fromestablishing supply and service points for water supply.

• Many new skills were learned, such as masonry and mechanics, managementskills, negotiation skills, and leadership skills (including among poor womenin traditionally male preserves).

• The local organizations set up for the water supply programs formed a basisfor wider local mobilization, provided greater community coherence, anddeveloped far greater levels of confidence among women and poorermarginalized households.

• Savings and credit groups provided a basis for the development of accessiblecredit facilities among the communities and assisted with the developmentof financial management skills.

• The new skills and confidence, better local organizations, and increasedeconomic momentum all had impacts on the wider political and governancesystems, including government policies.

AWARD found a similar story in the Bushbuckridge area of South Africa(Box 2), with water-dependent activities vital to the livelihoods of many poorpeople and improvements in access to reliable water services having the potential

The case study, based on in-depth surveys, highlights how water-dependent productive activities arevital to the livelihoods of many poor people, including female-headed households. Improvements in accessto reliable water services therefore have the potential to make a major contribution to poverty reduction. Theinstitutional context in South Africa is one of dynamic changes to water laws, policies, and institutionalresponsibilities, most of them pro-poor. Productive uses of domestic water are recognized in the water usecategory known as Schedule 1.3 While no license is required for this use, water-dependent productiveactivities that take place in the household have yet to be recognized in the planning and allocation processes.The importance of water for productive activities leads to a reassessment of the concept of water for basicneeds. This has traditionally been seen as being about health and hygiene only. However, for many in SouthAfrica and across the developing world, the definition should be extended to include water needs forlivelihoods activities. The two key implications of this case are:• Levels of domestic water needs are likely to be far higher than those assumed by conventional

approaches to basic needs.• Different households will have different needs, as the scale and nature of use of domestic water for

productive activities varies greatly within any community. This means that current norms-basedallocation systems (so many liters per capita per day) are a hindrance to poor households trying to worktheir way out of poverty.

Box 2. Allocating Water for Home-Based ProductiveActivities in Bushbuckridge, South Africa

3 In South Africa, under the National Water Act, Schedule 1 refers to the permissible use of water.

22

to make a major contribution to poverty reduction. This was in part due to thetime-savings that improved supplies for all, allowing more time for otherproductive activities. Where water supplies were above the basic minimum, somefamilies, and especially poor (often female-headed) households also benefitedthrough the ability to operate small-scale enterprises such as hair salons, beerbrewing, brick making, bakeries, or vegetable gardens. Communities with goodwater supplies made twice the income communities with limited water suppliesdid from such home-based productive activities.

In Andhra Pradesh, the successful implementation of watersheds managementin some drought prone areas has led to substantial improvements in income,better health, reduced out-migration, and stronger social organizations, anexperience mirrored by that of the communities in Gujarat where the NGO,SEWA has introduced similar schemes linked to income-generating activitiesand social organization for women.

The focus on meeting drinking and domestic water needs must consequently beexpanded to cover homestead-based income generating activities that are crucialfor poverty reduction (vegetable gardens, livestock rearing, mini fish ponds, etc.).The current minimal per capita water consumption needs must be increased tocover these productive uses of water without which there is little scope forlivelihood improvements of the poor. At the same time, the actual supply shouldreflect the fact that the specific livelihood activities of some households justify ahigher than standard supply. At the same time, care should be taken thatproductive use of water does not crowd out domestic water, as may be the casewhen ground water use for irrigation runs traditional water sources dry.

Most water sector interventions are implemented by government agencies.A major improvement in the quality of water services is possible if those agenciescould ensure implementation of the existing plans up to the agreed standard.Capacity building in those agencies as well as increased supervision and demandfor better facilities from organized direct stakeholders are necessary for betterquality services to materialize in situations where government agencies are tocontinue to play a leading role in service provision. The story of the PunjabRural Water Supply and Sanitation Project illustrates this vividly (see box 3),with the development of strong community organizations in which women playa leading role linked to effective reform in government institutions, dramaticallyimproving service provision and leading to substantial benefits in health,production, and the empowerment of women who were often marginalized intraditional society. Similarly, the on-going program to improve water supply,sanitation, and environmental health in Kiribati is based on a process of capacitybuilding and institutional reform in a small island community where the needfor such change is clear.

Water services should not aim at a “final solution”, but instead at a step by stepapproach. Starting with the needs and existing capacity of the poor, the servicesshould allow the expansion and upgrading toward internationally acceptedstandards of water and sanitation services. This again emphasizes the importanceof empowering poor people and building their capacities as an integral part ofthe development of improved services. Many of the case studies demonstratethat this is both possible, and where it does happen, effective in improving theposition of the poor in the long term. This, of course, places a burden upon

23

The Water and Poverty Initiative

governments, funding agencies, and others to accept the need to avoid quick fixsolutions and unrealistic targets and to engage with the poor as a long-termprocess. The results may be less dramatic in the immediate term, but are farultimately more effective in producing real improvements to service provision.

The poor are almost always willing and able to pay for water services, as long asthe services are relevant and secure. Such payments are necessary to improvesupply and reduce misuse. Special arrangements, such as payment in weekly ormonthly installments and at different rates for different types of usage, arenecessary to allow the poor to access services. The Punjab Water Supply andSanitation Project demonstrates that: poor communities are both willing andable to pay for both the initial investments and the running costs of improvedwater supply and sanitation where the costs are kept to reasonable levels; andwhere they are involved in all aspects of developing improved supplies, the servicesare reliable and provide good quality water.

Governments should create an institutional and regulatory environment in whichwater sector implementers are encouraged to be innovative. In many countries,this requires a rather different approach than the present one, which is moreprescriptive than enabling. For instance, targets for quality water services have toshift from inputs to outcomes that specify the impact on poor households. Thiswill stimulate innovation in the ways these outputs can be achieved.

Water quality, particularly of domestic water, must receive much more attention.The geological pollution of ground water with arsenic and fluorides in India,Bangladesh, and other countries, is an example of how a focus on quantitiesalone is insufficient, as is the widespread pollution from industry and other

In Punjab, about 60% of the 84 million residents live in some rural settlements where only 53% of thepopulation has adequate water supply. Women and children bear the brunt of the lack of access to water. TheGovernment of Pakistan has implemented the Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, funded byADB. The project, using a community-based approach, has provided safe drinking water and drainagefacilities to about 800,000 people.

The project used a community-based, demand-driven approach wherein the local people participatedfrom planning through construction and eventually became responsible for 100% of O&M. Men and womenformed community-based organizations to implement the water-related activities and promote otherdevelopment and livelihood activities. Members of these organizations were trained in supervision ofconstruction, as well as in O&M and fee collection. Community pressure and prompt disconnection ofservices for nonpayment made tariff collection easy.

The primary impact of the project has been to free up women and children from hard labor, carrying waterfor 2-6 hours per day. Also, people’s income has gone up, as 45% of the time saved is spent on incomegenerating activities. A survey found a more than 90% reduction in water-related diseases, an averageincreased household income of 24%, and as much as an 80% increase in the enrolment of school children.The following main lessons can be learned from the Punjab Project:• For sustainability, male and female community groups must be involved in all project stages;• Subproject selection criteria should be disseminated to ensure transparency and application;• Community willingness to pay for services is often considerably higher than expected;• The local private sector can efficiently and cost-effectively respond to rural WATSAN schemes;• More attention must be given to gender considerations, sanitation and hygiene as well as education;• To ensure quality work and timely completion, all payment must be conditional on verification.

Box 3. Ladies First: Accessible Water for EntrepreneurialWomen in the State of Punjab, Pakistan

24

Combining improved water-supply with micro-enterprise development has much potential to reduce poverty in semiarid areas. This case study,implemented by the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in Gujarat, India, combines the rehabilitation of the piped water supply and traditional watersources with a micro-enterprise development program for female entrepreneurs. Research revealed that the time released by improved water supply enableswomen entrepreneurs to make a substantial contribution to the household income. This income was especially useful at times of limited employment, such asduring droughts. In addition, gender relations have changed in favor of these women.

The success of this case justifies multiplying the approach as well as the following policy changes:• An integrated, holistic approach to rural development in which women influence the design and operation of the service so that it meets their domestic and

economic requirements;• Involving CBOs, NGOs, and other institutions with experience in improving water supply and supporting micro-enterprise development in the

reformulation of current policies;• Using the development of women’s enterprises combined with the improvement of domestic water supply as a major entry point for rural poverty

reduction programs;• De-linking water and poverty by providing income-generating opportunities that depend less, or not at all on water, and are demand-driven;• The government, SEWA, and other institutions to provide drought relief work in the form of craftwork at times when other economic opportunities are at

their lowest;• Gender programs to start addressing women’s immediate gender needs and link these with the improvement of gender equality between, but also among

the sexes (e.g., for women of different ages and positions in the family).

Box 4. Gender and Economic Benefits from Domestic Water Supply inSemiarid Areas: A Case Study in Banaskantha District,

Gujarat, Western India

sources found in many low-income urban areas in particular. Improving serviceprovision in the poorest urban areas, especially where many settlements arethemselves illegal, is particularly challenging. The examples from Manila, wherea large utility is extending services with private sector involvement, and Dhaka,where an NGO is actively and effectively working with poor communities toimprove water supply and sanitation, show that there are different routes toachieving this goal with a significant level of success.

Pro-Poor Economic Growth and Livelihood ImprovementsAs detailed above, water is a necessary but on its own an insufficient preconditionfor poverty reduction. For instance, as many case studies have shown, adequateaccess to water supply and sanitation are essential to any form of sustainabledevelopment and can, as in the different WaterAid projects, create conditionswhere wider development can happen. However, if water is to be used for productivepurposes and lead to poverty reduction, supporting facilities are needed such ascredit, skills-training, and market linkages. Such increased production itself isnecessary to make cost recovery viable. Overall national development strategiessuch as the PRSPs and the related MTEFs seem to be the most obvious instrumentsto ensure pro-poor economic growth and livelihood improvements, but there areconcerns that the poor representation of water and other natural resource sectorsmay lead to missed opportunities from improvements to these sectors.

The scope for sustainable livelihoods improvement and economic developmentis illustrated by several case studies. The importance of the productive use ofdomestic water has already been referred to in connection with the AWARD casestudy in South Africa and the benefits accruing from successful watershedsdevelopment in Andhra Pradesh. If local level water management, linked to

25

The Water and Poverty Initiative

This case study draws lessons from International Development Enterprises’ (IDE) 20-year experience with micro-irrigation, mainly through the treadlepump. Micro-irrigation is a simple, practical, and widely applicable technology to utilize the agricultural potential and enhance the income generating capacityof smallholders. Since the 1980’s, over a million pumps were sold in Bangladesh while since the 1990’s, in eastern India and the Nepal Terai, sales were over200,000.

Treadle pumps and other forms of micro-irrigation contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people surviving onless than $1 a day. Micro-irrigation technologies have had a widespread poverty reduction impact. Smallholder families can increase their annual net incomeby an average of $100 for an initial investment of about $30. The innovative distribution of treadle pumps through the private sector at affordable and unsubsidizedprices has resulted in widespread poverty reduction with minimal donor resources.

Micro-irrigation could potentially benefit up to 30 million smallholder households in the next 15 years. To achieve this, a focus on pro-poor economic growthand poverty reduction as a distinct goal is required. To fulfill this potential, IDE needs to broaden its approach in three areas. The first is to offer smallholders morechoice than a single high-quality, high-price product. The second move needed is to loosen up IDE’s tightly controlled marketing organization in India. Finally,IDE must also proactively devise a strategy to deal with the threat posed by subsidy schemes for mechanical pumps and to make best use of opportunitiesoffered by persistent increases in the prices of fossil fuels and electricity.

Box 5. Livelihood Impacts of Small-Scale Irrigation:Treadle Pumps in the Indian Subcontinent

specific income generation and growth activities takes place then the results canbe spectacular, as illustrated by the experiences of communities in Gujaratinvolved with SEWA’s programs (Box 4). Scaling up such successful localexperiences is perhaps one of the main challenges to be faced if such successfulexperiences are to be built on and replicated.

Most of the poor buy their food, as they do not have enough land to producefood for all of their needs. Many poor people do grow some of their food onsmall plots of land or around their homestead, and many also gather foodstufffrom common property resources, including fishing and fruit or other plantsgathered from common lands. Low-cost and appropriate improvements to waterprovision for food production by the poor can yield spectacular results. Forinstance, IDE demonstrates that innovations such as the treadle pump and low-cost drip irrigation can yield an annual income of $100 from a small plot of landfor an initial investment of around $30 (see box 5). As this case study argues:“the distribution of micro-irrigation technologies through the private sector at affordable,sustainable, and unsubsidized prices has proven to be an effective and efficient meansof achieving widespread impact with minimal donor resources” (IDE 2002, page 1).

The poor also spend a very high proportion of their income on food. Stable andlow food prices are therefore of crucial importance to the poor, which is in turnoften contingent upon effective and reliable irrigation supplies. The studies byIWMI demonstrate that this is possible where the right combination of access toland, efficient infrastructure, and effective governance conditions are found. Insuch cases, yields can increase significantly and benefits can reach the poor whohave too often been marginalized by major infrastructure developed withouttheir needs in mind.

Community Capacity Building and EmpowermentA strong theme that ran through most of the case studies was the recognition ofthe importance of empowerment and capacity development at the communitylevel. In most cases, this was something that was a central element to the approach

26

adopted; something that represents a radical break from what would have beenfound in the past (Box 6). There were varying degrees of success with thischallenging issue and many different approaches were adopted, but overall, thecase studies demonstrate that this is possible and does lead to significantimprovements in the water security of the poor.

Empowerment of direct stakeholders requires that the time and effort they investare matched by increases to their decision-making power. This is usually whereparticipation runs into problems as indirect actors, such as implementing anddonor agencies will have to yield some of their power if they are really committedto empowering local communities. There has been some reluctance to do so inmany cases, but there are also clear signs of success in this in situations such as inPakistani Punjab, Mozambique, and Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradeshin India (Box 7). In all of these cases, the change has emerged gradually, with aseries of incremental steps through which decision-making authority has beenstrengthened at the community level and responsibilities for planning, financialmanagement, and maintenance has been devolved from government agencies.

Empowerment and enhanced participation of the poor in decision-making shouldnot just be confined to actions at the immediate community level. Examples ofthe effective representation and consultation of the ultimate target beneficiariesat more macro levels were also found. In Bangladesh, this included the processof policy formation, with extensive consultations among coastal communitiesbeing an integral part of the process through which the new coastal developmentpolicy is being formulated.

The devolution of authority needs to be complemented by capacity building atthe community level so that poor people, who often lack skills and organizational

WaterAid’s experience with water supply policies suggests that the policy of Mozambique inspired bythe Demand Response Approach (DRA) offers considerable advantages over the previous supply-drivenapproaches. Projects are being maintained better and communities have a greater sense of ownership oftheir water points. District and Provincial capacity to monitor and promote The Government’s policy hasbeen secured through a funding arrangement that creates security and confidence. Health improvements arepossible if not yet proven, and new community management models are being developed and tested thatseem to enhance community control. In addition, costs have come down, meaning more communities canbe served than in the past.

WaterAid’s experience therefore suggests that the DRA can lead to more sustainable projects, but thatit is far from perfect at the theoretical and practical levels. Proponents of the DRA might therefore need toreconsider or fine-tune aspects of the DRA, considering the following possible modifications• Demand needs to be generated by enhancing community trust through effective responses• Financial support to districts and provinces must be long-term and sustained• Communities must be allowed to choose technologies that suit them financially and socially• Link capital cost contributions to sustainability issues by calculating what is required in cash to sustain

each particular system annually and ask communities to contribute at least that• Expecting communities to pay all operation, maintenance, and replacements costs is unrealistic, so

instead, clarify what repairs are beyond the responsibility of the community• Invest in the state and be sure that government has the finances and resources necessary to actually

promote, monitor, supervise construction, and highlight best practices in the sector.

Box 6. Demand Response Approach in Practice:Why Sustainability Remains Elusive

27

The Water and Poverty Initiative

structure, are able to effectively carry out their new responsibilities. The casestudies demonstrate clearly that all water sector interventions must includesufficient time and financial resources to enable direct stakeholders to organizeand to voice their opinion. Project design, including disbursement and otherschedules, should be flexible enough to allow direct stakeholders to be involvedat their own speed and in ways that are appropriate to their capacities. Numerousexamples of success in this field were found in the case studies, including that ofADB’s Community Health Project in Viet Nam where the conditions for successwere not immediately apparent. Indeed, the importance of this issue is nowreflected in project design, with almost all recent projects containing specificobjectives and activities related to the development of skills and institutionalcapacities at the community level.

Capacity building and change should not be limited to communities, but shouldalso cover implementing agencies. If these indirect stakeholders are to supportdirect stakeholders in demand-driven development, new attitudes, skills,procedures, monitoring and evaluation criteria, etc. are needed. As far as attitudesand skills of the staff are concerned, these should not depend on project-related,ad-hoc arrangements, but should instead be incorporated into the core trainingfacilities. This should also cover the curricula of relevant secondary and highereducation institutions. Change is particularly needed at the field level where theinteraction between agencies and direct stakeholders takes place. Without suchchange, community capacity building would only lead to the poor becomingmore frustrated. Again, successful examples of such changes in implementingagencies were found in the case studies.

This case study of a hill district typifies the potential and the challenges of poverty focused watersheddevelopment in a semiarid, low resource, and high-risk environment. Under these conditions, agriculturalgrowth and poverty reduction in India will have to take place. In Andhra Pradesh, The Governmententhusiastically implements the program, both through the government system (85%) and thorough NGOs(15%). The success of Andhra Pradesh in watershed development is to due a number of factors, such as:relatively good governance, translating political intentions into action, an environment for innovation andreform, active support of funding agencies and the involvement of NGOs with experience in working withthe poor and in watershed development.

This case study shows that watershed development is a necessary—though on its own insufficient—precondition for poverty reduction in resource poor areas. What is needed is a “watershed-plus” approachthat targets the poor and includes pro-poor complementary activities. The main features are that: locallaborers implement the construction activities without involving middlemen, development of common propertyresources is given priority, the poor are assisted to form self-help and saving group, and the poor are assistedwith other income generating activities.

The study highlights that policy level interventions are crucial, and the paper recommends• continuing and expanding the process of experimenting with watershed development at grassroots

level and ensuring that lessons learned are taken on board in policy design,• developing and testing interventions that particularly benefit poor men and women, both through

watershed development and complementary development activities,• building up the capacity of the government agencies, NGOs, and Panchayati Raj institutions involved

in watershed development and management,• developing a package of poverty reduction focused policies, including the watershed policy, that are

mutually complementary and reinforcing and• minimizing inequities through more egalitarian institutional arrangements and legislation.

Box 7. Watershed Development in Andhra Pradesh, India

28

Donors, too, need to change if they want to support a demand-drivendevelopment. Loan conditions and understandings need to be compatible withthe local culture and values. Allowing more time for personal discussions,negotiations, and restructuring in the beginning may minimize delays. Planningwill have to allow for lead time in which the software components of programsare developed, ahead of investments in infrastructure. Technical options willhave to be diversified, leaving the actual choice to the direct stakeholders.Furthermore, criteria of progress and ultimate success will have to move awayfrom the traditional stress on loan disbursement toward participation of thedirect stakeholders, impact on poverty reduction, and sustainability of benefits.

Such changes in design procedures and appraisal criteria are not easy toaccomplish, but are possible as several more recent ADB project designsdemonstrate. ADB projects such as those in Kiribati, The Philippines, PakistaniPunjab, Nepal, Timor-Leste, and Uzbekistan contain features as core elementsthat would have been marginal at best or absent until recent times. Suchcommitment to new approaches is found in the approach of many other fundingagencies, such as DFID supporting watersheds development in Andhra Pradesh,and The Netherlands and DFID supporting coastal development in Bangladesh.There is no room for complacency and all donor agencies would recognize theneed to push such changes further, but the experiences from the case studies dosuggest that there is openness to more poverty-focused and community-basedapproaches among funding agencies that was perhaps absent in the past.

Disaster Prevention and MitigationThe importance of vulnerability to disasters as a core issue in the water securityof poor people has been increasingly recognized in recent years, but is as yet notas fully integrated into actions as needed. In particular, there is still too often afailure to integrate disaster prevention and mitigation as a central element ofwater policies and programs. This is a critical issue for poor people, who are themost vulnerable to such hazards. There are serious gaps in our understanding of:how such hazards relate to the livelihoods of the poor, the types of coping andadaptation strategies that the poor adopt, and the threats that long-term increasesto vulnerabilities that stem from both climate change and increased exposure aspoor people occupy hazardous environments. Further research and analysis isneeded on all of these issues.

Examples of successful approaches to reducing the vulnerabilities of the poorwere limited in the case studies, but some positive experiences were found. Thiswas most apparent in relation to drought hazards. The watersheds managementprograms in Andhra Pradesh and the SEWA program in Gujarat, both in India,provide examples of where improvements to rainwater harvesting and watermanagement have been successful in mitigating at least some of the worst impactsof droughts that have hit these semiarid areas in recent years. Similarly, therehabilitation of traditional water harvesting structures in Baluchistan, Pakistandemonstrates the potential of approaches that build on long-established methodsfor water management and conservation at the community level (see box 8).Such approaches have significantly improved the water security of poor peoplein these drought-prone areas and have great potential for replication elsewhere.

29

The Water and Poverty Initiative

The coastal policy development in Bangladesh is specifically focused on thereduction of the vulnerability of poor people in an area where the threat ofcyclones, floods, and in some areas, droughts, along with hazards such as salinationand arsenic in groundwater, and the decline of ecosystems such as mangrovesand wetlands, are key issues for the poor. It is an innovative approach that seeksto integrate the existing and effective disaster relief system into the overall processof coastal development. Actions to increase the resilience of coastal communitiesare central to the approach, with many of these actions focused on enhancingwater security. Overall, while still under development, this case studydemonstrates that disaster management and mitigation can be an integral partof enhancing the water security of poor and vulnerable people.

Management of the EnvironmentEnvironmental management must continue on the poverty agenda, as manypoor people are dependent upon the integrity of the local resource base for theirlivelihoods. Down and upstream impacts of local water management has to bemore consistently investigated, while national and even international law shouldbe developed to cater to growing conflicts in this area. There is no doubt thatthese issues impact the poor, but successful examples of actions to address themwere not a prominent feature of the case studies.

There were several case studies that sought to improve environmental healththrough improved water supply and sanitation programs in both urban andrural areas. The effects of poor sanitation upon the local environment can be

This case deals with the relationship between drought and poverty in Balochistan. This area has been severely affected by droughts, as have similar areasin eastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan. The paper outlines the effects of the drought and deals with the “karez,” an ancient water system that madesurvival and even prosperity possible in these perennially arid areas.

The impacts of drought on communities that depend on “karez” irrigation are analyzed in terms of impacts on crop productivity, livestock productivity,incomes, heath and nutritional effects, poverty and vulnerability, empowerment and participation, sustainability of groundwater resources, etc. The paper thenexamines community and government level responses to water scarcity as well as voices from the community and outlines a strategy for integrated waterresource management.

The strategy should aim at doing more with less water, for which the following is suggested• Integrated water conservation strategies must be devised to enhance the benefits of available water supplies and to optimize water use efficiency once

the rainfall resumes.• Water conservation, through awareness raising and supporting policies, is the key to a stable and sustainable effort to ensure that the effects of future

droughts are less devastating.• Use water more efficiently by the introduction of water delivery mechanisms including modern irrigation application techniques (e.g., trickle, sprinkle,

etc.).• Research is needed on growing crops that do not require large amounts of water, hold the soil in place, and would be appropriate for subsistence and

marketing in southern Balochistan.

All of these desirable actions require integration of social, scientific, and technological research and action. Governmental commitment (i.e. “political will,”the commitment of resources, and good governance) is also critical. Furthermore, local, regional, provincial, and Federal policies must be integrated with—or at least congruent with—each other. Finally, accurate meteorological data must be collected as such data is critically important for understanding longitudinalclimatic trends and for predicting normal and abnormal rainfall patterns.

Box 8. Pro-Poor Water Harvesting Systems in DroughtProne Areas: A Case Study of Karez in

Balochistan, Pakistan

30

severe, with this particularly a concern in urban areas that have far higherconcentrations of people. The successful sanitation programs found in areas suchas Dhaka and Niassa Province, Mozambique demonstrate that actions todisseminate improved sanitation are possible, contributing to the health of bothpeople and the environment, and assisting countries to meet their newinternational obligations to halve the proportion of people without access toimproved sanitation by 2015.

There were a few cases where environmental conservation objectives were anexplicit goal in the actions taken. For instance, the Kiribati Sanitation, PublicHealth, and Environment Improvement Project contained specific activities toreduce solid waste pollution, encourage water conservation and protection, andimprove environmental health. Similarly, the Mountain-River-Lake IntegratedWater Resources Development Program in Jiangxi, PRC contains specificobjectives and activities related to soil conservation, ecosystems protection, andthe reduction of pollution through integrated water resources management. Bothof these projects are at a significant scale that covers in one case a whole islandnation and in the other, a large area in a major country. In these examples, as inmany areas of the world with a degraded environment, strengthening theecological resource base and improving the carrying capacity of fragileenvironments requires broad-based watershed development. The poor in particularwould benefit from such initiatives as they, in particular, live in such degradedareas. These cases demonstrate that environmental conservation to improve watersecurity is not just a local issue. This message is reinforced by the example ofwetlands conservation in Uganda (Box 9), where a successful partnership betweenan NGO (IUCN) and government agencies has been scaled up tocover sensitive wetland ecosystems (on which many poor people depend) in theentire country.

The Wetland Sector Strategic Plan—a collaboration between The Government of Uganda and IUCNsupported by The Netherlands—was launched in early 2001 to build on the experiences gained duringtwelve years of the National Wetlands Program. Wetlands cover 13% of Uganda’s territory, and many areof international biodiversity significance. The program is innovative in that wetlands management andpoverty reduction are integrated into the approach through the funding of local communities to developsustainable management initiatives that improve their livelihoods and maintain the integrity of the wetlands.These are based on locally developed management plans that identify areas where all exploitation isprohibited and areas where specific types of management (e.g., cultivation, fishing, livestock, and papyruscollection) are allowed.

The experiences of successful local pilots convinced the sometimes skeptical authorities that localcommunities were interested in and capable of sustainable management within agreed boundaries. Thesepilots have formed the basis for “scaling up” the approach to the national level and the integration of theprinciples of sustainable management into the national policy framework for these critical habitats. TheUgandan Constitution contains a clause stating that “wetlands should be held on trust by the government forthe benefit of all the people”. The introduction of the Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan shows that thisconstitutional aspiration can be turned into robust policy that includes effective means through which it can beimplemented. The Uganda experience demonstrates the importance of a sustained effort, supported overmany years—both financially and technically—by external development partners.

Box 9. Policies for Ecosystems Integrity: The WetlandsSector Strategic Plan in Uganda

31

The Water and Poverty Initiative

The case studies reviewed here, along with a wealth of other internationalexperiences, show us that there are many actions that can and do improve thewater security of the poor, despite the formidable challenges that actions in thisarea must confront. The keys to success are to understand and effectively targetthese specific needs and opportunities, to empower and build capacities of thepoor, and to ensure that all actions are based on a secure basis of rights andentitlements for the poor.

The overriding challenge facing the modern world if we are to enhance the watersecurity of the poor is for more coordination and cooperation among the keyactors in the water sector to achieve these goals. Only when the key actors combinetheir wealth of experience, knowledge, and financial resources can the watersector contribute fully to poverty reduction through more effectively targetingthe specific needs and potentials of poor people. This means that long-termpartnerships are needed between direct stakeholders and outside agents. At theinternational level, action-oriented partnerships are needed among governmentagencies, nongovernment agencies, research institutes as well as other specializedorganizations, and funding agencies.

These international partnerships should avoid two potential pitfalls. First of allsuch partnerships should avoid lengthy procedures and bureaucratic delays, andbe focused on improving the water security of specific groups of poor people.Secondly, these partnerships should not be “owned” by funding agencies as thiscould lead national governments to disregard the water sector because one ormore funding agencies are “taking care of it.” National commitment andengagement is critical for these partnerships to be successful.

Appell, V., M. Saleem Baluch, and Intizar Hussain. 2003. Pro-Poor WaterHarvesting Systems in Drought-Prone Areas: A Case Study of Karez in Balochistan.Colombo: IWMI.

Arcadis/Euroconsult. n.d. Integrated Resources Management Programme in Wetlands:Managing the Muthurajawela Marsh and Negombo Lagoon Ecosystem ThroughReducing Pollution of Ecosystem from Catchment. Colombo: Central EnvironmentAuthority.

Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2003. Bringing Potable Water to the Far-flungIslands of the Philippines. Manila.

———. 2003. Community Participation Helps Bring Water to Remote Parts ofNepal. Manila.

———. 2003. Development Communication Improves Water Project in VietnameseTowns. Manila.

———. 2003. Drought Relief in Uzbekistan. Manila.

———. 2003. Kiribati: Water for a Thirsty Atoll. Manila.

———. 2003. Ladies First: Accessible Water for Entrepreneurial Women in Pakistan.Manila.

———. 2003. Let the River Run: Irrigating the Fields of Kabulnan, Philippines.Manila.

The Way Forward

References

32

———. 2003. Partnership: Rebuilding a Nation by Bringing Clean Water to Timor-Leste. Manila.

———. 2003. Software Enhances Hardware: Community Awareness Supports WaterInfrastructure Project in Papua New Guinea. Manila.

———. 2003. Water for Slums: Private Sector Participation in Manila. Manila.

Breslin, Edward D. 2002. Introducing Ecological Sanitation in Rural andPeri-urban Areas of Northern Mozambique. Lichinga: WaterAid.

———. 2003. Demand Response Approach in Practice: Why Sustainability RemainsElusive. Lichinga: WaterAid.

Calaguas, B., and Mary O’Connell. 2002. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers andWater: Failing the Poor? London: WaterAid.

Datta, A., Dirk R. Frans, and John Soussan. 2002. Coastal Zone Policies andLivelihoods in Bangladesh. Dhaka.

Frans, D. and J. Soussan. 2003. Water and Poverty Initiative Case Study Papers:What We Can Learn and What We Must Do.

Hussain, I., Mark Giordano, and Munir A. Hanjra. 2003. Agricultural Water andPoverty Linkages: Case Studies on Large and Small Systems. Colombo: IWMI

International Development Enterprises (IDE). 2002. Shapla Filter: ArsenicRemoval from Contaminated Drinking Water. Dhaka.

World Conservation Union (IUCN). 2002. Policies for Ecosystems Integrity:The Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan in Uganda.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 2000. Community DrinkingWater Pumping System in East Sumba. Jakarta

———. 2001. The Study of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Improvement inNorth-West Region, Lao PDR. Tokyo.

Reddy, V. R. and Y. V. Malla Reddy. 2002. Water and Poverty: A Case of WatershedDevelopment in Andhra Pradesh, India. Hyderabad: Centre for Economic andSocial Studies.

Self-Employed Women’s Association. 2002. Gender and Economic Benefits fromDomestic Water Supply in Semiarid Areas: A Case Study in Banaskantha District.Ahmadabad.

Shen, D. 2003. Mountain-River-Lake Integrated Water Resources DevelopmentProgram, Jiangxi, China. Beijing: China Institute of Water Resources andHydropower Research.

Shrestha, Ava. 2003. Building Gender Responsive Water User Associations in Nepal.Manila: ADB.

Soussan, J., Sharon Pollard, Juan Carlos Perez de Mendiguren, and JohnButterworth. 2002. Allocating Water For Home-Based Productive Activities InBushbuckridge, South Africa. Johannesburg.

Thapa, S., Dhruba Pant, Ashok Singh, and Madhusudhan Bhattarai. 2002.Integrated Management of Water, Forest and Land Resources in Nepal: Opportunitiesfor Improved Livelihood. Kathamndu: IWMI, et al.

33

The Water and Poverty Initiative

Tushaar, S., M. Alam, M. Dinesh Kumar, R.K. Nagar, and Mahendra Singh.2003. Livelihood Impacts of Small-scale Irrigation: Treadle Pumps in India andBangladesh. Colombo: IWMI.

WaterAid. 2001. Looking Back: The Long-term Impacts of Water and SanitationProjects. London: WaterAid.

———. 2002. DSK: A Model for Securing Access to Water for the Urban Poor.WaterAid, London.

———. 2002. The Soozhal Initiative: A Model for Achieving Total Sanitation inLow-income Rural Areas. London.